Every year, I imagine what it’ll be like to arrive on campus — to be starting the new year. Memorial Church emerging from behind the palm trees, seeing the sun shine on Hoover Tower, running up to my roommate and doing that annoyingly enthusiastic but somehow entirely genuine “I missed you” routine. And funnily enough, …

While working for Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies (SPCS) this summer, I met a disarmingly wise 13-year-old novelist. Flying home as an unaccompanied minor, she needed a chaperone to see her safely through the terminal and onto her plane, a responsibility requiring abundant patience, a government-issued ID and an inhuman tolerance for lukewarm airport sushi: my specialty. …

No. 3 Stanford men’s gymnastics, armed with the talent to compete for an NCAA title, begins its 2014 season Saturday at No. 7 Cal in Berkeley.

Junior Brian Knott finished first in the parallel bars in the NCAA team finals last year, and headlines a Cardinal team that is looking to replace Nissen-Emery Award winner Eddie Penev. (HECTOR GARCIA-MOLINA/StanfordPhoto.com)

The Cardinal is coming off an impressive third-place finish at the NCAA Championships in University Park, Pa., last April.

Stanford will have to replace the production of Eddie Penev ’13, who graduated as a three-time national champion and nine-time All-American. Penev was an all-around star for the Cardinal and consistently dominated on the floor exercise.

The Cardinal does return one standout from last year’s championship events: junior Brian Knott. Knott scored a career-best 15.450 in the parallel bars in the team finals for a first-place finish, and Saturday will provide an opportunity to see how that effort propelled him in the offseason.

Another upperclassman to watch out for is senior Sean Senters. Senters has two seasons of eligibility left after a redshirting in 2011, and he has already established himself as one of the top gymnasts in the country. Senters earned All-America honors in 2012 and 2013 for his performance on the floor exercise and added All-American status on the vault in 2013.

Saturday’s matchup with Cal will also provide a first look at the Cardinal’s new freshman class. Stanford has six freshmen on the team, and all will look to make an impact early.

The season is filled with tough challenges for Stanford. The Card faces No. 7 Cal on consecutive Saturdays to open the season, first in Berkeley and then at Stanford. Then Stanford hosts a tournament that will see Cal, Washington and No. 1 Michigan come to the Farm.

In the team’s first competition after the tournament, Stanford heads to Norman, Okla., to take on the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners. The end result: By Feb. 8, Stanford will have faced the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 7 teams in the country in competition.

Stanford’s season begins at Cal Saturday at 1 p.m. in a meet that will be televised on Pac-12 Networks. The Cardinal’s home opener is set for Jan. 18 at 4 p.m., also against Cal.

About Sam Fisher

Sam Fisher is the managing editor of sports for The Stanford Daily's Vol. 244. Sam also does play-by-play for KZSU's coverage of Stanford football, Stanford baseball and Stanford women's basketball. In 2013, Sam co-authored "Rags to Roses: The Rise of Stanford Football," with Joseph Beyda and George Chen.

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The Math Corner

Number of 4-star recruits (247Sports) in Stanford's football #CardClass16, the most since 2012. The Cardinal's stellar class finished as the 16th best in the nation.

Quote It

"I never planned on really sticking around [elite gymnastics] because I had already accomplished everything that I wanted to do. When I was younger, where I’d see myself when I was 19 years old is exactly where I am right now: at college pursuing engineering as a gymnast.” —Women's gymnast Elizabeth Price